“Where am I?” “Where are you?” “Where is it?” are questions often asked, but not always easily answered. Global positioning system (GPS) and similar location determining devices have allowed users to locate themselves on our planet. Together with mapping software, the GPS network allows users to identify themselves with respect landmarks, streets, and the like. These and other location determining systems have been used with vehicles (often referred to as “telematics”).
Such telematic systems help users identify where their vehicles are with respect to an electronic map to determine directions to a location. A user can input a destination on such telematic systems, and mapping software (often stored in the vehicle with a database of maps) helps determine an appropriate route for the vehicle using an associated GPS device. The mapping software and associated maps may include lists of addresses or points of interest (POI's) to which the system may compute a route.
Fleet tracking systems or automatic vehicle location (AVL) systems allow a central location to track the locations of various vehicles in a fleet, where each vehicle includes a onboard system having wireless circuitry to provide the position of a vehicle in the fleet to the central location. Examples of such systems are provided by, for example, Qualcomm of San Diego, Calif.
Certain services, such as Maps.com, allow users to access a large database of maps and request directions or routes from a starting point to an ending point. If a user has a wireless, Internet-enabled device, such as a wireless palmtop computer, the user may then access such maps and associated directions wirelessly.
Three patents and one patent application in this area are U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,212,392, 6,321,092 and 6,381,535 and PCT/DK99/00548, respectively.
The headings provided herein are for convenience only and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the claimed invention.
In the drawings, the same reference numbers identify identical or substantially similar elements or acts. To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to the Figure number in which that element is first introduced (e.g., block 1702 is first introduced and discussed with respect to FIG. 17).
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